Squawking 'Miller' time, eBay's Icahn truce & Zell

Talking Squawk, the official "Squawk Box" blog, provides tidbits, insights and some sarcastic reflections on the WEEK THAT WAS and the WEEK TO COME from the notepad of the show's senior executive producer.

He's one of Wall Street's most famous investors, with a long-term track record that makes you cringe and say, "why in the world did I not invest with him years ago!?" Bill Miller of Legg Mason spent two hours on the "Squawk Box" set this week. He talked about the opportunities, he sees, in subprime mortgages and how to spot the three foundations of a stock bull market. He also told us why he disagrees with Warren Buffett on bitcoin.

Getty Images

Carl Icahn eyes Ebay Inc.

Truce ... kind of

OK, so what? Activist investor Carl Icahn called him "a moron." He called him "incompetent." He said the eBay board was the worst example of corporate governance he's ever seen. But then this week, suddenly, all was forgotten. So what happened? John Donahoe, CEO of eBay, came on "Squawk Box" to try to explain that in the end, business is business, and nothing is personal. So who blinked first?

Getty Images

Jack Lew, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

Ahead of the IMF meetings

Our "Econ-Guru" (aka Steve Liesman) caught up this week with U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in a wide-ranging "Squawk" exclusive. Lew said the U.S. may be leading the global economic recovery, but not to get too excited yet—because "we still have a lot of work to do" and "Main Street" hasn't been made whole yet since the Great Recession.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Barry Sternlicht

Plain-speaking Sternlicht

We love when Barry Sternlicht comes in to guest host because he always brings up stuff that makes us stop and say, "Hmmm ... we didn't think of that." This week, the chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital reminded us that the bond market is the "purveyor of truth" when it comes to Fed tapering and predicted that the economies of Europe have turned the corner.

Sternlicht—a private equity guy who got his start in real estate and hotels—also weighed in a bit on politics (actually Joe dragged it out of him!).

But he spoke highly of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who's being talked about as a possible candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Sam Zell

Sam is the man!

How cool is real estate mogul Sam Zell? He's a billionaire who drives around on a Harley! He stopped by "Squawk Box" this week and he came ready to rumble. In case you missed him, we broke down some of his topics below starting with why we need lower taxes. He also did the math on investing in single-family homes.

It's a hand-picked group of stock pickers. Each has a different discipline. Each a unique style.

We take their three best picks and track them quarter to quarter. If they want to change a pick, they need to call into the show and let us know. Put all the picks together and you have the "Squawk Box" Platinum Portfolio.

So in case you missed any of them this week, get out a pen and paper and write down the tickers of the names submitted by the likes of Louis Navellier, Oscar Schafer, Susan Byrne and Martin Sass to single out a few.

Getty Images

Must follow them @

OK, I thought this would be a good week to send a shout-out to some of our favorite parody accounts, (mainly because, they make us laugh).

"Squawk Box" co-hosts Joe Kernen and Becky Quick keep a handwritten record of their daily Word Jumble standings going back years.

Word Jumble

In the yearslong grudge match which is the daily Word Jumble, Joe Kernen and Becky were knotted at one win each and a rare tie—when neither of them figured out the word puzzle. Here's Joe's bonus jumbled word of the week: EBCALH. Here's Becky's word: SNCOIA. The answers can be found at the end of the blog.

Mark your calendar (or set your DVR)

Monday: Alberto Ades, Dante Parrini and David Hilder

Tuesday: James Paulsen, David Blitzer and Robert Shiller

Wednesday: Ian Robertson and Jeffrey Saut

Thursday: Phil Orlando, Scott Black and Mike Jackson

Friday: No show ... Markets are closed for Good Friday!

Next week's economic calendar

Monday: Retail sales

Tuesday: Consumer price index

Wednesday: Housing starts and industrial production

Thursday: Jobless claims and Philadelphia Fed survey

The corny-sappy motivational business-based inspirational quote

"Willingness to change is a strength, even if it means plunging part of the company into total confusion for a while."—Jack Welch

—By CNBC's Matt Quayle

*Joe's Jumble bonus word answer: EBCALH = BLEACH

*Becky's Jumble bonus word answer: SNCOIA = CASINO

Matt QuayleSenior Executive Producer of "Squawk Box" and "Squawk on the Street"